Book Review: The Plumberry School of Comfort Food by Cathy Bramley

Cathy Bramley is one of my all time favourite authors, I think that she hasn't written a word I haven't loved yet so I was over the moon to get a copy of her latest one. I started reading it immediately and loved every page. Here are my thoughts:

Blurb: The Plumberry School of Comfort Food was originally published as a four-part serial. This is the complete story in one package.

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend lands her right back in the heart of the kitchen. The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks' time and needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up. And with new friendships bubbling and a sprinkling of romance in the mix, Verity finally begins to feel like she's home.

But when tragedy strikes at the very heart of the cookery school, can Verity find the magic ingredient for Plumberry while still writing her own recipe for happiness?

First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: Well, Cathy Bramley has done it again. I completely fell in love with the story and the characters of The Plumberry School of Comfort Food. In fact, this might be her best book yet. Not only does it have the usual charm you find in her books but so much more: this story is full of love, joy and heart but also sadness and raw emotions. A story that will steal your hearts for sure.

Lately, we've had quite a lot of foody novels in which the story is set in a bakery or a tea shop and even if I usually enjoy these settings, I was starting to feel like I was reading the same story again and again. So I was greatly surprised to discover a very original setting for this one: a culinary school, with lots of fun course (I'd love to attend), competitions and events. Not only that, the story was unique and highly entertaining with new surprises and twists with every chapter. It certainly captured my attention from start to finish and I found myself completely lost in its pages for hours.

As the main character, Verity was perfect, easy to love and root for and with a huge heart. Since losing her best friend, she had been merely surviving and getting on with life with no enjoyment or enthusiasm so it was really touching to see her getting more involved in the school and seeing her smiling and fighting for it. I was really curious to know more about her and with every new bit of information I like her more and more.

And then, we had all the cast of characters surrounding the school. I couldn't really pick a favourite as I loved reading about them all. Cathy Bramley always creates such well developed characters with their own stories that complement the main plot so well! I especially liked Tom, the Irish chef, and his assistant Pixie, and Mags, the receptionist and expublisher, and Gloria, whose idea started it all and... yes, I like them all, ok?

With glorious food, lovable characters, a highly entertaining story, lots of surprises and such a fun setting, The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is the book you've been looking for! It'll definitely be in my top ten books of the year so guys, just get yourself a copy!